Already Getting Behind

There are a lot of things I'd like to talk about here but I seem to be slipping in posting regularly. General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is this coming weekend and I will be watching and listening. It's always inspiring to listen to modern apostles and prophets and know that God loves us in these times as much as in times past and he has once more given the world his messengers.

Think of what it would have been like to sit at the feet of Moses, or Isaiah, or Elijah or Christ. Just because they aren't dressed in robes and are clean shaven, doesn't mean their messages aren't just as authoritative. We're so conditioned to think of such men as things of the past that it's hard to get past it sometimes. Millions have done so however.

Responsibility and Rights

Which is more important, individual rights or personal responsiblity? Should they be connected, and if so how much?

Many voices in the United States and elsewhere in the world have become very shrill in defense of their rights. It is important to defend our rights because it is very easy to have them slowly slip away if we do not. Rarely heard, and rarely shrill are the voices for individual responsibility. It has become very easy to blame others, or expect government or others to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves.

Each of us can do our bit to return the principle of personal responsibility into society. I can accept responsiblity for the condition of my home. I can accept responsibilty for how I fulfill my church and work duties. I can be responsible for my actions and words. I can refuse to blame others for my own choices, or lack of choosing.

Why Rules?

A news article I read today about the body of a college student being found in a high-voltage room, electrocuted, reminds me of why rules are important. While how it happened that this young man got into the room that required passing through two locked doors is not yet known, it does serve as an example of why rules are important.

It is unlikely that any reasonable person would think that locked doors or high fences around high voltage transformers is an infringement of their rights of movement, yet these same people assert that such rules as chastity before marriage and fidelity afterwards are restrictive and can be disobeyed with safety. As surely as proximity to high voltage can result in electrocution, so can disobedience to Gods laws result in spiritual electrocution. Broken hearts, broken families, STDs, AIDS, reduced standards of living and many other problems occur when these laws are violated.

Just think, if I am chaste and faithful to my spouse and he to me, I am free to not contact any STD. I am free to have a loving companion through life. I am free to raise any children in a two-parent home. I am free to have an unbroken heart. I am free to trust my mate. I am free to go through life with no need to lie about my behavior, or who I was with, or what I was doing.

Really restrictive isn't it?

Gifts of the Spirit

While still erratic I am attempting a daily time to study scripture and gospel subjects. I am reading about gifts of the spirit. It is an interesting subject, talked about in the New Testament, Book of Mormon and the Doctrine & Covenants as well as in the words of modern-day apostles and prophets.

There are many different gifts, some more well known than others. The gift of faith, the gift of knowledge, the gift of wisdom, the gift of tongues, the gift of interpreting of tongues, the gift of healing, the gift to be healed and many others.

I particularly like one spiritual gift, talked about by Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He talks about the gift of discernment. How great a gift is this - to be able to discern the good and the evil in life and in ourselves. One with this gift will be less likely to be deceived by the philosophies of men or tempted to do that which is contrary to the will of God.

We can also ask God for spiritual gifts we desire and to know the gift or gifts we have been given.

Focus, focus, focus

Ever have so much to do that even when you are working on one task your mind skitters among all the rest? I've yet to learn how to stay focused on the job at hand, and instead of reducing the number of things I need to do I seem to be increasing them. Some are unavoidable, certain circumstances at work require that I add to my assignments, at least for a time. Some are just by inaction, a number of tasks could be done and out of my mind and hair if I'd just do them rather than thinking about doing them.

What About Prayer?

Why should I pray?
On the most basic level we pray because it is a commandment of God to do so. It is the devil who tells us not to pray 2 Nephi 32:8-9 We also pray because we need God's help. We should pray to give thanks for everything we have received from God, even the trials. We pray for the benefit of others, friend and foe alike. We pray because God is our Father and He desires to hear from his children.

When should I pray?
Once a day, twice a day, three times a day, continually. There should always be a prayer in our hearts. God has placed no limit on His availablity to us, only our own thoughts and actions will distance us. Satan is very good at convincing us that the Lord can't be bothered with our petty concerns, it's according to the devils designs that we break that communication link.

Are prayers answered?
Yes. Sometimes immediately. Sometimes not for a long time. The time and nature of the answer will be what is best for us. God sees the big picture, we are blinded by the trees. Don't be surprised if the answer is not what you were expecting either.

Cats With Agendas

Anyone who owns cats can probably attest to this. Cats have their own schedules and their own agendas. They know when I should be going to bed, and they know when I should be getting up, and rarely is it the times I have in mind. Now, I -should- be in bed around 9:30 pm and up around 5:30 am every work day, at least if I'm going to get 8 hours of sleep. Around 9:00 pm they start coming in and staring at me, which I usually ignore of course. If I'm not in bed when they know I should be they go there without me.

Morning time. Shadow has decided that if he knocks my glasses off of the headboard, or paws the clock radio out of its nook, that I'll get up. It often works. The radio turns on, and I hit the snooze button. Shadow isn't agreeing to that, so he pulls it out onto the bed. It would be interesting to see if I was more alert and healthy if I did sleep on their schedule for me.

C.S. Lewis and Rats

This is one of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes:

"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light." C. S. Lewis -- Mere Christianity

Understanding this would greatly reduce many of the violent responses we find in society today. A driver who cuts you off did not create your 'anger rat', it only exposed it. That fight you had with a loved one was not caused by their words or deeds, that only turned the light on the rat that was already there.

Those people I know who rarely if ever get angry are usually those who have achieved that most excellent state of being - a rat free cellar. They no longer have the 'disposition to do evil' that they once did. It's not about controlling your anger, it's about no longer even having it.

Television - Off - Worked

The television did not get turned on when I got home from work yesterday until I'd been home for an hour. In that time I got the floor vacuumed, the laundry folded and put away, the cats fed, the trash and recycling taken to the curb and phone calls made for one of my church responsibilities.

It felt good. I think I'll do it again.

Television - Off

Ever have so much to do that you end up doing nothing? I am in that condition often, so I sit and knit and watch television. Soon I think I will take wise advice and unplug the television. The few times I've resisted turning on the TV it's been a very odd sensation, because I didn't know what to do with myself.

Turning off the television will enable me to get some of the things done around home, because I won't be able to stand just sitting, so watch out clutter! Watch out cleaning! Watch out exercise! I know I can get things done because I have done so in the past, I just need to remove the reasons why I don't.

Becoming a Disciple

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I strive to be a disciple of the Savior, but what exactly does that entail? Certainly it consists of a number of things, but I would consider that foremost among them is the desire to become like He is.
A disciple is not just a mere follower, or one who verbally commits to a leader or teacher, a disciple is one who is seeking to be like their Master. A disciple of Jesus wishes to say and do and become like Christ. None of us can get there completely in this life, but each of us who call ourselves Christian can be progressing to that ultimate goal.
One of the things we need to learn to do is hearken to the Spirit, to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is one of the major gifts from God to help us in our discipleship. The Holy Ghost can tell us the truth of scripture or counsel, warn us of danger, and also tell us when things are contrary to the Will of God.
How do we learn to hearken to the voice of the Spirit? We pray, we ponder and meditate, we study the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. We conform our lives to the teachings of Christ and gain confirmation of our behavior by the same Spirit. The more we strive to be in tune, the more we lose the desire to do evil and the more we become like Christ.

Other Laralees

Out of curiosity I search my name on Google or Yahoo periodically just to see what shows up other than my presences on the web. Years ago, when the web was still very young I could come up with 3, all in the same part of the country that I was raised in. I appear to be older than any of the Laralees I've seen so far so even if I'm not the first Laralee blogger, I may be the oldest with that name.

The spelling of my name is unusual and at times I wonder what the origin of the use is for the others I find on the web, if perhaps some of them were named, not after me, but because they saw my name and liked it as well. I may never know, but it's fun to speculate that it might be so.

Walking for Exercise

I'm an off and on sort of exerciser - mostly off. I splurged and got myself a nice treadmill in January, because of all sorts of aerobic exercise, walking is my favorite. I squeezed the machine into my small den and walk and watch television. Since my television watching time often involves doing very little else I figured that I could walk for 45+ minutes every night and not really be taking new time out of my life. So far that's pretty much the case, other than not doing quite as much knitting.

I like how I feel while exercising, and how I feel when I'm done, but that doesn't seem to make much difference when I'm actually getting ready to exercise, or deciding if I'm going to or not. Inertia is a big challenge for me. BUT! I've set myself a destination goal and that helps.

How it works is you pick a spot you want to travel to and get yourself a map. I use online tools like Yahoo or Google maps which not only lets me print out the maps but will give me the mileage from my starting point to my destination. Acquiring a pedometer is also useful, especially if you want to include in your mileage the walking you do throughout the day. Record your distance after every session and plot it out on your map.

In talking to others about this technique I've heard of a number of variations. You can research the places you walk to, learn about the culture and history, take a virtual tour of the place if one exists, and plot a new destination from your previous start. Eventually you could walk clear across your state, or country or continent.

On Taking Offense

One of the current most popular trends among people in the public view and also the media that covers their activities, is the eagerness with which they take offense. I can think of a number of reasons that this so common.

1. The culture of Political Correctness
In what was probably a sincere attempt to become more understanding of each other, the 'politically correct' concept has also managed to raise being offended to a fine art. Instead of individuals with disagreements talking to one another and explaining their point of view and why some word or idea disturbs them, they now jump to being offended immediately. So instead of dialog we get distance, instead of communication we have conflict, and instead of understanding we retain ignorance.

2. The zeal of extremist groups
Individuals or groups who advocate that their way is the only correct way, and their group knows what is best and therefore should be the ones making the decisions. When all that matters is their ideas and their way and their people in power, there is no alternative to being offended constantly. Power in the hands of anyone else will be offensive. Decisions made by any other group will be wrong by default. This perpetual state of offense precludes any attempt at understanding or negotiation.

3. The media
I am hopeful that the majority of the media still strive to be objective and report accurately. The necessity of the revenue stream often forces them to choose one viewpoint over another, or focus on one story or series and neglect something equally significant. In order to sell magazines, or newspapers or airtime the stories need to have an excitement factor and the spin that is put on a story can have a direct impact on how the audience responds to that story. This includes 'I'm offended' news reports and op ed pieces.

Now here is the big TA-DAH. Being offended is a choice. How about that. You cannot be offended by another unless you choose to be. You are an agent unto yourself and it's up to you how you react to the words or actions of another. Don't blame anyone else for how you choose to respond.